Not a 'she' but a five-piece 'they' from Guildford, Maggie Cassidy are a self-described "dirty pop band" who formed last year. Named after an early Jack Kerouac novel, their debut single ‘Guide Me’ is now followed by the just released ‘Leaking Love’ which sees the band push further into the fray of fully realised modern pop music through the marriage of soaring melodies and hypnotic, rhythmic guitar stabs.
Who are you?
I'm guitarist Jan-Erik Barnegren with Maggie Cassidy. The rest of us are Jamie Coupe (vocals), Tom Macdonald-Grute (guitar), Jack Onslow (bass) and Pete Callaghan (drums).
Tell us something about yourself and how you came to be where you are today.
We're a band called Maggie Cassidy from Guildford, Surrey. The other four boys went to ACM and formed a band which I became a part of a few years into their journey. After about a year together it felt like we had changed, both stylistically and as people, to a point where we felt it was best to hit the refresh button. We spent a while in hiding, writing, recording, and planning; Maggie Cassidy was the end result. We've been a band now for around eight months and it's been amazing.
Give us an idea of your musical style and influences.
We like to describe ourselves as a "dirty pop" band which is something like pop with heavy guitars, or boy band punk, I guess. As individuals we have quite disparate influences; we have some crossovers but we all listen to wildly different music which I think feeds into our sound. As a band we're probably most influenced by bands like The Maine, The 1975, 5SOS, and Don Broco. Sing along, vibey songs but still with the propensity to slap from time to time.
Explain the production and writing process behind your songs.
Typically, either Tom or myself will write the skeleton of a song on guitar which Jamie will overlay a vocal on top of. From there, it's a case of putting some flesh on the bones and building up the song collaboratively and rewriting until we feel like we've got something we're happy with. No two songs come about the same way but that's naturally the way we get from nothing to something.
Tell us a little about your new single.
'Leaking Love' is our second single and we're really proud of how it turned out! It's got more of a commercial, emo feel than our debut 'Guide Me', but the positive response has been overwhelming. We recorded it with Pete Miles at Middle Farm Studios who's worked with We Are The Ocean, Dry The River, and The 1975 back when they were Drive Like I Do! He's a phenomenal producer and we're grateful for how far he pushed us to make the best sounding record we could possibly make.
The song itself is about the struggle of loving, and accepting love, when dealing with depression; mental health awareness is a big part of what we do and we think a lot of people will be able to relate to the message in this song. Check out the video too, we spent a lot of time trying to replicate that message in the visuals of the video and we're proud of the end result; plus, it's got dogs in it so that should be reason enough to give it a watch!
Can we catch up with you at any forthcoming live shows?
Yes, we have quite a few live shows before the year is out. We'd love to see and meet as many people as possible! Down below is where you can catch us:
October 19th @ Zigfird von Underbelly of Hoxton, London
October 26th @ The Village Pump, Trowbridge
November 2nd @ Royal Holloway University
November 10th @ The After Dark, Reading
November 17th @ Players Lounge, Guildford
How's the rest of the year looking, plans-wise?
We've got loads of shows coming up, and hopefully we'll have some more booked in very soon. We'd love to get up to Leeds, Manchester, Newcastle... places Maggie Cassidy hasn't been before, maybe even to Europe. Otherwise, we're preparing a release for early next year alongside wiring new music and producing more content for our online community. There's loads happening with us all the time to keep you on your toes!
Where can we hear more of your music?
We're on al the major streaming services, the best way to keep us with al our new releases is to follow us on Spotify and subscribe on YouTube. New stuff is coming all the time and it's the best way to keep tabs. We've just started doing these one minute covers on YouTube too which people seem to really dig; it's really just us having a crack as some of our favourite records.
What social media platforms can we find you on?
Facebook // Twitter // Instagram
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